WASHINGTON — Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) wrote to the acting secretary of defense on Jan. 11 to request that the Department of Defense’s criminal investigative organizations cooperate with the FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police in investigating whether members of the U.S. Armed Forces engaged in insurrection or participated in a seditious conspiracy that used force to oppose the authority of the United States, prevent or otherwise hinder the execution of the Electoral Count Act or unlawfully seize U.S. property.
A combat veteran and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Duckworth noted that if criminal investigations validate reports of servicemembers or military retirees participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, “it would be a disgraceful insult to the vast majority of servicemembers who honorably serve our nation in accordance with the core values of their respective services.”
She pointed out that retired members of the Armed Forces remain subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
If such individuals are identified, Duckworth called on Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller “to take appropriate action to hold individuals accountable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” stating that “upholding good order and discipline demands that the U.S. Armed Forces root out extremists that infiltrate the military and threaten our national security.”